D.C. Schools Consider Dropping U.S. Government High School Graduation Requirement

President Barack Obama supporters wave American flags on the National Mall in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, prior to the start of President Barack Obama's ceremonial swearing-in ceremony during the 57th Presidential Inauguration. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

In an ironic twist, public school leaders in the nation's capital are considering allowing its high school students to graduate without taking an advanced level course in government functions.

The D.C. State Board of Education has released a proposal that would actually raise the total number of required high school course credits to 26 from 24 -- but where courses and extracurricular allowances like team sports, musical performances and study abroad programs are added, the U.S. government course requirement is removed. The proposal also adds a thesis project provision.

The D.C. proposal comes as studies show that civics education, which includes lessons on citizenship, government, law and current events, is lacking in most school curriculums. A 2012 study by the Center for Information and Research on Civil Learning & Engagement at Tufts University found that 39 states require at least one course in U.S. government or civics, but just eight administer standardized statewide tests on the subject.

On the most recent administration of the civics portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2010, just 24 percent of high school seniors proved proficient. Students failed in a number of subject areas, including the U.S. Constitution, civil rights and the court system. Only 7 percent of eighth graders could correctly identify the three branches of government and fewer than half understood the purpose of the Bill of Rights.

"That's pathetic," former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told The Huffington Post when the scores were released in 2011. "The statistics in this latest study confirm that we have a terrible problem on our hands."